Disability Mentoring Day Links Disabled Students with Career Building Opportunities

October 24, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Colleen Dermody: (202) 887-0500 x18
Charissa Benjamin: (202) 887-0500 x17
Witeck-Combs Communications for AAPD

WASHINGTON - The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) today hosted the national anchor event for "Disability Mentoring Day: Career Development for the 21st Century." Disability Mentoring Day provides mentoring opportunities and career exploration for students with disabilities nationwide.

"Economic empowerment is at the heart of civil rights for people with disabilities," said Andrew J. Imparato, President and CEO of AAPD. "By building relationships between students with disabilities and mentors working in fields that interest them, Disability Mentoring Day helps to create a pipeline of qualified workers for participating employers and gives disabled students greater direction and motivation to pursue their career goals."

"Across the country, companies, organizations, and governments at all levels are providing mentoring opportunities for students with disabilities," said Imparato. "More than 1000 students are being mentored by hundreds of public and private employers in more than 30 states."

Disability Mentoring Day began in 1999 as a White House effort to help boost the employment of people with disabilities and heighten the impact of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. It is patterned after other mentoring and job shadow activities, such as the national Groundhog Job Shadow Day and Take Our Daughters To Work Day. In its first three years, Disability Mentoring Day has expanded from a DC-based event for three dozen students to a national event with more than 65 volunteer Local Coordinators and 13 National Corporate Sponsors. In its role as National Host, AAPD recruits Local Coordinators, promotes the event nationally, and provides resource materials and technical assistance to participating volunteers.

The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy and the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities are the event's National Public Sponsors. AAPD is also pleased to have broad participation from the corporate community. AOL Time Warner; Booz Allen & Hamilton; Cingular Wireless; Citigroup Corporate & Investment Bank; Compaq Computer Corporation; Darden Restaurants and its operating companies, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and Smokey Bones; Hewlett-Packard; Independence Technology, a Johnson & Johnson Company; Microsoft Corporation; Monster.com; Pitney Bowes; SmartForce; and Verizon are the National Corporate Sponsors.

"We applaud U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, the new Office of Disability Employment Policy at DOL, and the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities, for sponsoring this effort as a complement to President Bush's New Freedom Initiative," says Imparato. "We applaud our National Corporate Sponsors for making this a truly public-private partnership and helping to tackle the long-standing problem of unemployment and underemployment among people with disabilities."